5 Chess Openings For Beginners
Do you want to play like Magnus or Garry? When playing, you win or lose, you need to learn from your mistakes. So that’s why I’ve created this to teach you a better start of the game.
#1: The French Defense: Opening Moves: 1. e4 e6. The French Defense is a great opening for beginners for many reasons. First of all, it’s a very solid and challenging opening against 1.e4 (the most common first move). If you play the French Defense and like it, you can easily stick with it your entire chess career. In fact, it’s the preferred response to 1.e4 for many legendary players past and present – Mikhail Botvinnik, Viktor Korchnoi, Tatev Abrahamyan, and Georg Meier just to name a few!
Second, the French Defense teaches many fundamental chess principles very well. You’ll learn much about pawn breaks and pawn structure, fighting for the center, attacking on the wings, and improving pieces. It will also give you insight into dealing with it as White if you play 1.e4, as the French is one of the most common defenses against 1.e4.
White has several ways to play against the defense, but for now you should focus on the most common: the Advance Variation (3.e5) and the Exchange Variation (3.exd5).
#2: The Sicilian Defense: Opening Moves: 1. e4 c5.
If you watch any major chess tournament, you’ll get the impression that the Sicilian Defense is the favorite defense of seemingly every grandmaster out there. And for good reason! The Sicilian is one of the most combative ways to play against 1.e4.
If you’re not afraid of more aggressive and tactical play, it’s a great substitute for the French Defense as Black. But for the same reasons, you’ll definitely want to know how to handle this opening from White’s perspective, as it is one of the most common and challenging.
The tricky part about the Sicilian for beginners is that there are a plethora of variations – the Najdorf, Dragon, Sveshnikov, Kan, Taimanov, Scheveningen, Classical, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are also anti-Sicilian systems, such as the Closed Sicilian, Alapin Sicilian, and Smith-Morra Gambit.
With all these variations out there, it sounds like a real chore. But if you learn the solid Najdorf Variation (3…a6) as both Black and White, you should be playing the Sicilian with success in no time.
#3: The Queen’s Gambit Declined: Opening Moves: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6.
Whether you’re on the White side or Black side, the Queen’s Gambit is an essential opening to know.
As White, the Queen’s Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4) is recommended opening for the 1.d4 player. Solid yet ambitious, it can serve as a backbone to any queen’s pawn repertoire. Black has a multitude of defenses at his disposal, but one of the most common and most solid is the Queen’s Gambit Declined, where Black responds 2…e6
From Black’s perspective, it can be a strong response to both the Queen’s Gambit and even the English Opening (1.c4). In the latter’s case, you would transpose (i.e., reach the opening through a non-standard move order) to the Queen’s Gambit by 1.c4 e6 2. d4 d5. As a “buy-one get-one defense”, it’s definitely a useful opening to know! You may even see the Queen’s Gambit pop up as a transposition from other chess openings as well, such as the Reti (1.Nf3).
With the Queen’s Gambit Declined, you’ll specifically want to prepare for the Exchange Variation (cxd5), a very popular continuation.
#4: The Slav Defense: Opening Moves: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6.
If you ask 1.d4 players about the opening they hate to see over the board, much of the time you’ll hear “the Slav”!
Although the Queen’s Gambit Declined is a very suitable response from Black to 1.d4, the Slav is a strong alternative. For that reason, this opening makes the top 10 list of openings beginners should know, if nothing else for the fact that they’d better be prepared to face it after playing 1.d4.
With early grabs on White’s c4 pawn and a free light-squared bishop, the Slav tends to be much more combative than the Queen’s Gambit Declined. For that reason, many White players try to pacify it with the Exchange Variation (cxd5) to avoid the more theoretically complex and tactically wild lines.
#5: The Italian Game: Opening Moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4.
If you’re an 1.e4 player, one of the most common responses from Black will to meet your 1.e4 with 1…e5 – the Double King’s Pawn Opening. You’ll always want to continue 2.Nf3, attacking the e5 pawn and developing a piece, but from that point, the opening can branch into many different directions.
Typically, Black will respond in kind with 2…Nc6, defending his e5 pawn and developing his own piece. White now has three major openings to choose from: The Ruy Lopez, Scotch Game, and Italian Game.
As I did in my post The Ultimate Guide to 1.e4, I recommend the Italian Game for beginners. With rapid, active development and a fight for the center, you’ll definitely get a good game against Black in the Italian. And as it sees a resurgence in top level play, spearheaded by strong grandmasters like Wesley So, you can be sure the Italian Game will give you many years of fun over the board.
And there you go. 5 openings. Right from the box.
